I need to take my hat off in mourning- the next issue of Filament Magazine, a fabulous example of photos of men made by and marketed to women, will be its last- not due to any lack of demand (there’s more than ever!) but for personal reasons.

I am announcing that Issue 9, the next issue of Filament, due out 1 December 2011, will be the last. My reasons are entirely personal. Perhaps this is also the right time, because we are finishing on a high.

To answer some questions you may have:

I’m a subscriber. Will I receive my money back for the issues I haven’t received? Yes. However, this is labour-intensive for us, with over 1000 subscriptions to individually refund. We aim to complete this process by 30 June 2012. If you don’t want to be refunded, please emailhello@filamentmagazine.com and let us know.

Will Filament continue as a website? Not as such, but we plan to try and put most of our past content up on www.filamentmagazine.com and will add articles as exciting and relevant topics come up, so please keep following ourfeeds. We will also continue to sell issues through the website until they run out. Our stockists will also be getting in Issue 9 as normal, and will continue to sell Filament until they run out.

Couldn’t someone else take over as editor of Filament? It’s doubtful, for various reasons that I can’t go into.

Perhaps a company would want to buy the magazine? We have had offers, but always from those who seek to turn Filament into something that doesn’t seem consistent with the reasons you have told us that you like Filament.

I know that Filament means a lot to many of you. At various events I’ve had readers approach me to thank me, with tears in their eyes. This makes me feel proud, but also incredibly sorry that I can’t continue this for you.

So first? Buy up issues of Filament!

And secondly, I’m thinking it might mean that next year is the year to take Andro Aperture to the next level and try to pull together something more concrete. Because I will mourn its passing- Filament inspired the hell out of me and helped me solidify my belief that women DID want to look at images of men made for their consumption, of different body types, ethnicities, and cultures.

About the Andro-Aperture Project

Andro-Aperture is a mini-crusade for the appreciation of male beauty in all its forms- sexy men, sexy male, and sexy trans-masculine bodies of all kinds. There aren’t enough images shot for female appreciation, so I want to explore and discuss what defines (and defies) a female gaze.

I want to celebrate the diversity of the erotic male body- encouraging more sexy photos of male-identified people of different ethnicities, body sizes, ages, hairiness, and abilities.

I want to challenge the knee jerk reaction that “female bodies are just more attractive”.